There was a big victory for the U.S.A. Thursday morning. The U.N. voted to support the new government in Iraq after the Bush (search) administration agreed to autonomy for the Iraqis once elections are held.
The Associated Press, which is largely fair in its reportage, calls the vote "a diplomatic victory for the United States." But will that description be echoed by TV news organizations and newspapers? Which ones will spin it another way?
Now Friday on The Radio Factor, we're asking Americans to report in on how the story is being covered in your hometown. It'll be fascinating to see which media outlets see it the way the AP does, and which ones don't.
In my new column, just posted Thursday on billoreilly.com, I admit to being a fool. And since you will not hear that admission very often, you might want to check it out.
According to a new Gallup poll, half of the country believes the media is biased left. But up until a few months ago, I was not one of them. I was wrong. And I explain why in my column.
Right now, there are 18 anti-Bush books in the stores. And you thought things were bad for Bill Clinton. And many in the media are thrilled with these tones. Some are getting glowing reviews. Along with that are the continual attacks on the Fox News channel. Two rolled in today.
First Walter Cronkite, our pal, tells "Texas Monthly" magazine, "I was very disturbed at first when Fox came on line saying it was going to be a right-wing news source."
Well, we immediately called Mr. Cronkite and said where did you get that? He told us he can't back the statement up, but believes FNC is right wing, and wonders whether I'm embarrassed by working here.
Memo to Walter, the only embarrassing thing is your misstatement. I have to deal with this kind of stuff every day of my life. Also Thursday in The New York Times, columnist Thomas Friedman, who's usually pretty clear headed, writes, "Usama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein issue messages from their caves through Al Jazeera, and (Dick) Cheney issues messages from his bunker through Fox News."
What is that? The Factor has been very tough on Cheney. What messages? This is unbelievable blather.
Both Cronkite and Friedman are playing to their choir, reinforcing stereotypes that are false. We've invited both men to come on here to defend their positions. Think that'll happen?
What is certainly happening is the corruption of news reporting by ideologues in powerful media positions. Just watch and see how this U.N. story is reported and let me know tomorrow on the radio.
And that's The Memo.
The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day
An update on the war in the store. The bookstore, that is.
As we mentioned in the Talking Points memo, there are 18 books out now that accuse President Bush of being the worst guy since Ghengis Khan. Most of these tomes are written by fanatical left-wingers, and, unfortunately, much of the information is defamatory and foolish, and we all thought Bill Clinton had it bad.
Certainly, President Bush is worthy of criticism, as is any president. But it's interesting to see just where these books are selling, and that is primarily in the independent bookstores and on amazon.com. But they die a gory death in Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Costco, and other big retailers, while my book Who's Looking Out for You? does great in those places. Of course, Who's Looking? is not a political book and smears no one. So my conclusion is that the regular folks are turning away from the political nonsense, but the angry left is hot on it.
In the end, somebody's going to win this book war, and it would be ridiculous if it's one of those hate vehicles.
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